NMSU’s 2010 Innoventure Competition

NMSU AggieVision-July 14, 2010. The NMSU Arrowhead Center hosted the Innoventure Competition for high school and middle school students in March of 2010 at the Hotel Encanto of Las Cruces. Teams presented their business plans and inventions to a panel of judges, and learned about social entrepreneurship from Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes.

The annual Innoventure program, a competition hosted by the NMSU Arrowhead Center, ignites innovative thought and technical skills in middle and high school students throughout New Mexico. Innoventure 2010 was an outstanding success with presentations by middle and high school teams. Over 150 students and 25 advisors participated. Winners received digital cameras and $350 scholarships toward their (hopefully eventual) enrollment at NMSU.

Innoventure’s featured speaker was Blake Mycoskie, founder of Toms Shoes, a social entrepreneur whose company gives one pair of shoes to a needy child for each pair he sells. Over 350 NMSU students attended his presentation on how he started his company.

Also participating were two College of Business alumni, Jose Rodriguez and Aron Jones, co-founders of ROJO Apparel, whose company gives food to the needy in Haiti and elsewhere for each t-shirt they sell. Rodriguez (class of ’08) obtained degrees in finance and economics, and Jones (class of ’09) graduated with a degrees in marketing and leadership management.

Innoventure 2010 Winners

Middle schools

High Schools

First Place

“HAPPEN” (not an acronym) from Tony Hillerman Middle School. Students created a solar oven specifically to assist in efforts to curb deforestation in Haiti. Due to the recent earthquake disaster there, this invention has extreme relevance. The invention has been picked up by a non-profit organization in New Mexico which will take the product to Haiti for distribution. If you would like more information, please contact Chelsea Henrie at henrie@aps.edu.

“THRIVE” from Albuquerque. Students designed a kit that serves as a vertical garden or a netted trap to catch marine life. This kit was unique because of its versatility.

Second Place

“Survival Aid” from Ruidoso Middle School. This group designed a clay filter that fits inside the lid of a plastic detergent bottle.

Alpha Pi Rho from Las Cruces High School. This group developed an innovative backpack. The backpack has wheels to make it portable. It also has an umbrella to block the sun, for children who may travel long distances across desert terrain. The umbrella is connected to a water filter inside the backpack that utilizes the energy from the heat on the umbrella to filter the water.

Third Place

“Answer Aid,” also from Ruidoso Middle School. This group designed a hydroponic bed for soy bean and pea crops in order to provide food for children who suffer from extreme poverty or natural disaster.

“U-Antics” from Alamogordo High School. This team designed a water generation system that uses the sun’s rays to create condensation and fresh water.